Taxpayers are facing a substantial cost of £240,000 annually for a bespoke HGV depot that cannot accommodate trucks. Conwy County Council is under scrutiny for spending approximately £2 million on the building since the lease began in May 2016, equating to a staggering monthly cost of £20,000. Despite this expensive blunder, the council is locked into a contract for the depot until at least 2031, with no current ability to use it for its intended purpose.
During a time when the council raised council tax by 9.67% and reduced frontline service budgets by 10%, it remains tied to a 35-year lease with a break clause only in 2031. The total rent paid by 2031 could reach a jaw-dropping £3.6 million if the current trend continues. Originally leased from Conygar Investment Company PLC, the building now belongs to R. R Sea Strand Limited. The Council had planned to use the depot for storing HGVs, but the space proved inadequate.
Instead, the building has been utilized for pandemic-related materials storage and was prepared as an emergency temporary morgue during the Covid crisis. It later served as storage for surplus PPE and other general items. A council spokeswoman refrained from commenting due to ongoing litigation. Aberconwy MS Janet Finch-Saunders expressed shock at the situation, vowing to investigate the details of the contract’s impact on taxpayers.
Criticism has been directed at the council for its handling of the building, with concerns raised about spending money on a facility that serves no purpose. The upcoming finance and resources scrutiny committee meeting will address this issue further. An independent report from Newcastle-based DWF LLP highlighted leadership failures, policy negligence, and accountability gaps within the council. Former Conwy chief executive, Iwan Davies, regretted the decision to purchase the unusable building, while Councillor Anne McCaffrey labelled it a series of errors.
This case has prompted calls for transparency and accountability, with demands for the council to reassess its management of the situation. The finance and resources overview scrutiny committee of Conwy is scheduled to convene to address these matters in a private meeting on September 2nd, 2024.